The personal assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on new media, Bashir Ahmad has reacted to the news that he has been appointed as the new head of a unit within the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Ahmad in his reaction via a statement on his Twitter account, debunked the news, describing it as totally false.
His reaction comes after an online medium had reported that Ahmad, 29, recently hustled his way in as the head of the newly-established National Production Monitoring System (NPMS) of DPR.
“Bashir got the appointment early January, but his documentation took place last week,” the medium quoted a State House official familiar with the appointment to have said.
“His appointment at the presidency will expire by 2023,” an official said. “So he would move to DPR as his permanent job by then.”
“It was delayed following the death of one of his friends, Jamilu Ibrahim Shinkafi, in an accident along Bauchi-Nasarawa Road, precisely in Akwanga in Nasarawa,” the source added.
The fatal auto crash was said to have occurred whilst the deceased was returning from the wedding of Ibrahim Rabo, an aide to communications minister Isa Pantami on January 31.
“It was the wedding that Bashir was seen amongst those not on face masks,” the official said. “So they deferred the conclusion of his documentation by a week before it was finally concluded last week.”
However, Ahmad in his reaction denied such appointment and wrote:
“A friend sent me a link to a concocted story from an online news blog that the President has quietly appointed me as a manager of the DPR, a department of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, for those who want to know the truth, the story is 100% FALSE. I am not a staff of the DPR.”
A friend sent me a link to a concocted story from an online news blog that the President has quietly appointed me as a manager of the DPR, a department of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, for those who want to know the truth, the story is 100% FALSE. I am not a staff of the DPR.
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) February 15, 2021
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Monday submitted that it is not compulsory for President Muhammadu Buhari to personally speak on every matter.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu who made this position known on Monday, said Buhari believes in action more than words.
He added that whenever he or the special adviser to the President on media and publicity, Femi Adesina speaks on behalf of the President, then Buhari has spoken to Nigerians on the issue and citizens should learn to accept that fact.
Shehu spoke during the Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme monitored by Naija News.
According to him, people should not personalize issues on the President’s body language while expecting him to personally address the nation on the activities of criminal herdsmen causing crisis in many parts of the country.